daredevil magician david blaine goes high voltage in his latest stunt. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry. those stories and more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> and we're going to begin this morning with high stakes debate. all eyes turned to denver for tonight's first presidential debate of the 2012 race. and a new nbc/"wall street journal" poll finds president obama is hold on to his national lead. but not by very much. 49% of likely voters favor the president. while 46% prefer mitt romney. that's only a 3% edge for obama which is within the survey's margin of error. but when it comes to a pool of registered voter, the president widens his lead over romney by 7 points, 51% to 44%. now a national survey says the nation is headed into the right direction. both candidates took a break from their debate prep on tuesday to make a few unscheduled stops. nbc's steve handelsman reports from denver. >> reporter: the pressure is intense. president obama took time out for a visit to hoover dam. >> it's spectacular. i've never seen it befor